London In The Later Middle Ages: Government And People 1200-1500 Paperback

Caroline M. Barron

This is the first full account of the evolution of the government of London from the tempestuous days of the Commune in the late twelfth century to the calmer waters of Tudor England. Caroline Barron shows how the elected rulers of London developed ways of dealing with both demanding monarchs and quarrelsome city inhabitants. The remarkable survival of the city's own records makes it possible to trace, in unexpected detail, the inner workings of civic politics and government over three hundred years. London was by far the most populous and wealthy city in the kingdom, and its practices were widely copied throughout England. It was, as the Londoners claimed in 1339, the 'mirror and example to the whole land'.

9780199284412

English

Oxford University Press

02 Sep 2005

488

Caroline M. Barron is Professor of the History of London at Royal Holloway, University of London.

[a] magisterial study... It may be much longer before a more scholarly, richly detailed, and finely structured work appears in this genre. Quite apart from the excellent, solid scholarship packing its pages, the book functions as smoothly as the smartest piece of technology. * Philippa C Maddern, Economic History Review * impressive ... eminently readable ... One of the many great strengths of the book is in its balance between the exposition of the larger context of Barron's analysis and its illustration by individual cases. * Annette Kern-Stahler, Archiv fur das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen *